Commentary: Chevron Oil is putting its heavy finger on the scales in some of our state senate races – to protect Chevron’s bottom line, not us or our environment.
A conservative Super PAC that spent big on Republicans in 2018 is misleading Democratic primary voters with progressive-sounding communications that give the false impression that our Governor is endorsing state senate candidates it favors. “Stand with Michelle and Candidate X.”
Even the name “New Mexico Strong” is misleading. It should be “Petroleum Strong.” Top 2018 donors were Chevron ($2.5 million+), Occidental Petroleum ($100K), Mack Energy ($50K), and Devon, Marathon, and Hillcorp Energy.
In 2018, “Petroleum Strong” gave $25,177 to Clarkson, a former Trump minion, toward his failed bid for the Republican nomination for the House of Representatives, and spent heavily to attack Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard.
Chevron ponied up $350,000 in February. That money is buying mailers and TV Spots for a few state senators, including John Arthur Smith and Mary Kay Papen. Former State Democratic Party Vice-Chair Neomi Martinez-Parra, a teacher from Lordsburg, is challenging Smith.
To size it, “Petroleum Strong” has $350K of Chevron’s money, and is spending bucks on Smith’s primary contest. Smith’s first primary report listed $61,700 in contributions. Martinez-Parra reported $24,707.
The sources of these funds tell an important story. For October 16th, 2019 through March 27, Smith’s reported $61,700 in contributions came largely from oil and gas ($18,750) and large health corporations / Big Pharma ($15,000). Small companies like Exxon Mobile. Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, plus General Motors, Comcast, and Union Pacific, all of which must have southern New Mexicans’ best interests uppermost in their minds. Contributors included two ranchers and three other individuals among the plethora of lobbyists and businesses.
Martinez-Parra in October 2019 reported $9,000+ in contributions, ranging from $5 (an unemployed person) to $2,000 from a guy named Parra. Ignoring family, $5 to $250, all from individuals. No IBM or U.S. Steel. People. Professors, caseworkers, insurance underwriters, nurses, engineers, a physicist, a student working in a bookstore.. Martinez-Parra pledged not to accept corporate PAC money.
I’ve rarely seen such a stark contrast in funding.
Smith is smart, well-spoken, and experienced; and I’m all for fiscal prudence and common sense; but who is his top priority in applying his experience to our affairs? Nurses, engineers, and retired people – or “Petroleum Strong?”
I hear this election is surprisingly close, perhaps because Smith seems somewhat out of step with increasing numbers of his constituents. For example, most New Mexicans wouldn’t put a woman in jail for getting an abortion. Smith played a key role in killing a bill to erase an old New Mexico statute criminalizing abortion. He says that he’s steadfastly “pro-life,” has thought that way for 35 years, and isn’t going to change to satisfy the latest fad. I respect convictions; but we should all keep growing as we age, and changing views when new information warrants that. If he’s saying he doesn’t care to learn and change, that’s sad.
Constituents also care about the environment. There’s a reason that Chevron wants Smith in office, a reason his contributors’ list is so overloaded with oil and gas and big pharma, and a reason the Sierra Club, in its endorsement of Martinez-Parra, said Smith “repeatedly . . . sided with Republicans to block important environmental legislation.”
Is Mitch McConnell right – that the three things that matter in U.S. politics are money, money, and money?